The subject matter herein relates generally to radio frequency connectors.
Due to their favorable electrical characteristics, coaxial cables and connectors have grown in popularity for interconnecting electronic devices and peripheral systems. A typical application utilizing coaxial cable connectors is a radio frequency (RF) application having RF connectors designed to work at radio frequencies in the UHF, VHF, and/or microwave range. Typically, a header connector is mounted to a substrate, such as a circuit board, or alternatively, the header connector is terminated to an end of one or more cables. A corresponding mating connector is coupled to the header connector, and the mating connector may be terminated to an end of one or more cables, or alternatively, to a substrate, such as a circuit board. The connectors include one or more circular inner conductors coaxially housed within a corresponding circular outer conductor.
Conventional coaxial cable connectors are not without their disadvantages. For instance, the inner and outer conductors are circular and are expensive to manufacture. For example, the conductors are screw machined, which is expensive and time consuming. Some known conductors are stamped and formed into a barrel or circular shape; however such conductors have poor electrical performance at higher frequencies.
A need remains for cost effective, high volume connector system that provides high-speed signal transmission while maintaining signal integrity.